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The Philadelphia Flyers have missed the postseason for a fifth consecutive season. They have already made moves this summer to remedy their drought. The Flyers traded for Trevor Zegras from the Anaheim Ducks. There is still work to do and more trades to come if the Flyers want to return to the playoffs in 2025-26.
Philadelphia started its summer by re-signing Noah Cates to a four-year, $16 million extension. With that move, they now have just four pending free agents, with two of them being restricted free agents. Further, they will have $15.8 million in salary cap space this offseason. While the franchise brings back much of its core from last season, it is also a team that was tied for last in the Eastern Conference.
The Flyers also have a multitude of players they can move, plus plenty of draft capital. They currently have three first-round picks and six total picks in the top 50 of the 2025 NHL Draft, with Round 1 taking place on Friday night. With both players and draft pick surplus, the Flyers are in a prime position to make some trades.
Owen Tippett is expendable
With the Flyers re-signing Cates, while trading for Zegras, they have plenty of help with the top-six forwards currently. This past season, Travis Konecny, Matvei Michkov, and Sean Couturier led the team in points. All three played on the top line for the Flyers at the end of the season and are under contract for the next two seasons. Meanwhile, Cates, Bobby Brink, and Tyson Foerster also return to make up a second line. Only Brink will be a free agent at the end of next season, and he will be a restricted free agent.
This leaves Tippett as expendable. Tippett scored 20 goals and added 23 assists this past season, placing him tied for fourth on the team in points and fourth on the team in goals. Further, he was not a major factor on the powerplay, with just seven assists. The Canadian was the tenth overall pick in the 2017 draft by the Florida Panthers. He would make his NHL debut in the 2020-21 season with the Panthers, before being traded the next season to the Flyers. In his three full seasons with Philly, he has scored 20 or more goals while having 20 or more assists in all three years.
Meanwhile, the advanced stats for the forward have regressed this past year. He created fewer chances, converted fewer high-danger chances, and had a lower individual point percentage this past season. Combining this regression with the fact that other players have grown to take spots on the top two lines, trading Tippett is a must. He has a cap hit of $6.2 million this year and is still under contract for seven seasons. A modified no-trade clause takes effect next summer as well, so now is the time to make the move.
The Flyers should move a restricted free agent
Philadelphia has just two restricted free agents on their roster. One is forward Jakob Pelletier. Still, he is not projected to bring much in the way of assets back to the Flyers. The other is Cam York, who was in the news last season when John Tortorella was fired. Currently, Philly has six defenders under NHL contract, plus York as a restricted free agent. One of those six is Ryan Ellis, who has not played in 2021 due to injury. He will most likely not be returning to the roster. Still, they have the room to move York if they get the right package.
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He was playing on the top defensive pairing with Travis Sanheim at the end of the season and finished second on the team in time on ice per game, just behind Sanheim. The American-born blueliner is also coming off a down year. He played in just 66 games, and has played in just 82 games once in his NHL career. Further, he scored just four goals and added 13 assists, his lowest total since the 2021-22 season when he played in just 30 games.
Meanwhile, York is expected to cost between $3.5 and $5.8 million per year on his next contract. That could bring in a first and third-round pick based on an offer sheet. With the vast amount of draft capital the Flyers currently hold, trading him for players, potentially on the blue line or in goal, would be the best move in Philly.
Philadelphia trades for goaltending help
The Flyers need help in between the pipes. They finished this season 28th in the NHL goals against average while sitting last in save percentage. This is a theme for the franchise in recent years. They were 31st in save percentage in the 2023-24 campaign. They currently have two goaltenders under contract. The first is Samuel Ersson, the soon-to-be 26-year-old who will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season. He struggled last year, with a 22-17-5 record, a 3.14 goals-against average, and a .882 save percentage.
The other goaltender is Ivan Fedotov. Fedotov will be 29 years old this upcoming season, will be a free agent at the end of the year, and has a cap hit of $3.275 million. While Fedotov is going into the second year of a two-year deal, he has already failed to live up to expectations. In his 29 games played, with 25 starts, he is 6-14-5. Further, he has a 3.29 goals-against average and a .874 save percentage. Considering the fact that he has struggled in his NHL career, and he can walk at the end of the season, they need to move him now.
The Flyers will most likely need to place him in a package for another goaltender. They have been linked to Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko. Philly needs to make this move happen. With the Canucks having Demko, Kevin Lankinen, and Arturs Silovs on the roster, the Flyers will most likely not be able to trade Fedotov to Vancouver. Regardless, they need to shed the salary and make space for this new goaltending option. Whatever is brought back in return can then be added to draft capital or with York to send to the Canucks for Demko.
The Flyers are in a very solid spot this offseason, with plenty of draft picks and players they can move. Still, this is a team that has not found success. They are working towards changing that, but moving away from players to gain more assets while improving the goaltending situation is a must.
